This report distils the outcomes of the eighth in a series of symposia on human welfare in emerging markets at Green Templeton College, Oxford. World’s leading experts warn of irreversible environmental destruction and disastrous economic and health consequences of unregulated economic ambition. As heads of state gathered for the start of the G20 meeting in Hamburg, the expert group called on world leaders to put human wellbeing before unregulated economic ambition, noting that the relentless pursuit of economic growth is undermining not only the environment but also the very prosperity and benefits it aims to achieve in many countries, not least in emerging markets. The group states that while rapid economic growth has generated unprecedented improvements in human welfare in recent decades, many policies that continue to maximise growth without enforcing environmental controls are now reaching a point of diminishing social returns.